John 5:37

37 And the Father who sent me testifies about me. You have never even heard his voice or seen his form,

John 5:37 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:37

And the Father himself, which hath sent me
Not only the works he gave him to do, and which he did, but he himself in person:

hath borne witness of me;
not only in the writings of Moses, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, but by an audible articulate voice from heaven, at the time of Christ's baptism, ( Matthew 3:17 ) ; which was a full testimony of the sonship of Christ, and of the Father's well pleasure in him; and which was repeated at his transfiguration on the mount, ( Matthew 17:5 ) ; and the sonship of Christ is the grand thing which the three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, testify of, ( 1 John 5:7 ) ;

ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape;
for the voices that were heard, and the forms that were seen under the Old Testament dispensation, from the first of this kind in Eden's garden, to the incarnation of Christ, which are ascribed to God, or to a divine person, were either by the ministry of angels, or they were voices uttered by the Son of God, or forms assumed by him, who often appeared in an human form, as a prelude of his incarnation; so that it was unusual, and wonderful, and remarkable, that the Father should bear a testimony to the sonship of Christ by a voice from heaven; and which therefore ought to be attended to, and received as a sufficient and valid testimony.

John 5:37 In-Context

35 John was a burning and shining lamp, and, at least for a while, you were willing to celebrate in his light.
36 “I have a witness greater than John's testimony. The Father has given me works to do so that I might complete them. These works I do testify about me that the Father sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me testifies about me. You have never even heard his voice or seen his form,
38 and you don't have his word dwelling with you because you don't believe the one whom he has sent.
39 Examine the scriptures, since you think that in them you have eternal life. They also testify about me,
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